Features

Fans of deep, melodic electronica and cinematic progressive house rejoice. Rotterdam-based DJ/producer/composer Eelke Kleijn has just released his third full-length album, Moments of Clarity, via his own imprint DAYS like NIGHTS imprint/event series.

Picking up where he left off on 2010’s Untold Stories (Manual Music), Kleijn’s latest long-player is a testament to his musical maturation. A classically trained pianist who has cast a musical net that extends to doing sound design work to movie scores for Hollywood, Moments of Clarity could be his most organic work to date.

Ahead of upcoming gigs in Turkey, Sweden, Indonesia and Argentina, the Dutch master shares his favorite tracks of the moment. Continue Reading →

For issue 27 of our print edition published in the spring of 2009, I met up with Depeche Mode in NYC. The trio was assembled to promote their latest album, Sounds of the Universe. The full-length featured a slew of singles including “Wrong,” “Peace” and “Perfect” and received a positive reception from critics. Here’s my conversation with Andrew Fletcher and Martin Gore about producing their twelfth album, sobriety, choosing a set list and the unexpected benefits of Dave Gahan’s solo career.

If you think that veteran electronic act Depeche Mode are a bunch of Debbie Downers, think again. Sitting in a swank New York hotel room with Andrew Fletcher and Martin Gore (singer Dave Gahan is on his mobile taking care of some business in the lobby) a few weeks before the release of Sounds of the Universe, the Mode say the public perception about them is sometimes a bit off.

“In our own country, England, we’ve always been known as sort of gloomy and doomy,” says Andrew Fletcher. “A lot of DJs used to play up on that especially on our single ‘Enjoy the Silence.’ [Sings a scary melody] WOOOO-HHH-HAAAAA.” Continue Reading →

Tantsui is a Moscow-based producer/live electronic project helmed by Ramzes Akhmetov. With releases on Kindisch, Crosstown Rebels and Get Physical — as well as a crossover hit in the form of 2013’s “Beautiful Day” — Akhmetov released Tantsui’s wonderful debut album, Unbound, on NOPASSPORT in October.

The 10-track release is awash with inspired downtempo grooves that soar above a backdrop of woozy deep house and chunky beats. The music is earnest and the lyrics are often pensive and somber.

Below Akhmetov shares his five favorite tracks of the moment, most of which deviate far from typical dance floor fodder you’d expect him to choose. Continue Reading →

Moby released his seventh album, Hotel, in 2005. Instead of doing a typical interview with him for our print edition, we somehow convinced Mike Patton of Fantômas and Faith No More fame, to chat with Moby. However, Patton didn’t listen to the album in advance of their chat. What resulted was an awkward conversation about Moby’s Area:One festival, John Kerry, stomach stapling and Patton’s band, Fantômas.Continue Reading →